Why BJP has gone for a ‘generational shift’ with Bihar Minister Nitin Nabin as its next working president

“Shri Nitin Nabin Ji has distinguished himself as a hardworking karyakarta. He is a young and industrious leader with rich organisational experience and has an impressive record as MLA as well as Minister in Bihar for multiple terms. He has diligently worked to fulfil people’s aspirations. He is known for his humble nature and grounded style of working. I am confident that his energy and dedication will strengthen our Party in the times to come. Congratulations to him on becoming the BJP National Working President,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted on X.

Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, and Nadda also welcomed Nabin’s appointment, with the Home Minister praising Nabin for fulfilling every responsibility given to him to date. Having been a five-time MLA and state minister, “possesses extensive experience of working among people”, Shah said.

Nabin, who will be at the party’s Delhi headquarters on Monday, thanked PM Modi and Nadda for “placing their trust” in him. He also said he had learned from the “political acumen” of Shah and thanked Rajnath Singh for his “continuous guidance as a guardian”.

“I will contribute fully to strengthening the party organisation from the booth level to the national level. Under the guidance of the party’s top leadership, we will advance the BJP in Bihar and across the country … I will work to make the BJP even stronger at the national level,” he said at the party office in Patna.

Experience in organisation, govt

The son of the late MLA Nabin Kishore Sinha, Nitin Nabin is from the Kayastha community and is valued in the party for his organisational skills. “Belonging to a neutral caste, he is an organically BJP leader whose family has traditionally been with the party. He is also young and has proved to be an excellent administrator and organisational man with strong grassroot connect. This shows the BJP is set to go for the generation shift in the organisation,” said a Union Minister who did not wish to be named.

BJP leaders said Nabin, who has been the Bankipur MLA since 2010 and first became a Cabinet Minister in 2021, enjoys the confidence of both the PM and Shah. The RSS was also keen on the party promoting a young leader and Nabin would be an acceptable choice for the Sangh, said a leader.

The BJP’s Lok Sabha Chief Whip, Sanjay Jaiswal, said Nabin possesses the right mix of organisational and ministerial experience. “It is a very proud moment for Bihar. He is young, energetic and a five-term MLA. He got the experience in the organisation, he helped the party register a splendid victory in Chhattisgarh and is a minister in Bihar. He has a good track record in both the organisation and the government. He did a wonderful job managing the campaign and election in Bihar this time,” Jaiswal, the MP from Paschim Champaran in Bihar, told The Indian Express.

Senior BJP leader and Patna Sahib MP Ravi Shankar Prasad said it was a “bold initiative” by the leadership to appoint a “time-tested worker as (working) president”. “It signifies the generational change in the party and a great appreciation for the potential for a humble worker to reach the top. He is also an amiable leader,” Prasad told The Indian Express.

A leader close to Nabin said, “He was perhaps chosen above other seasoned and young leaders because of his easy accessibility among common workers. But it is surely a leap for him by all standards.”

Nabin began his political journey with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the Sangh’s student wing, while in college. The minister, who has studied till Class 12, was 25 years old when his father, who won the Patna West Assembly constituency for four straight terms from 1995 onwards, passed away suddenly. Nabin, who, according to a party leader, dropped out of the Birla Institute of Technology after his father’s death, won Patna West in a by-election. Following delimitation in 2008, he shifted to Bankipur and has held it since 2010.

Sources said his good organisational skills were apparent from quite early on. “When he was the national general secretary of the Yuva Morcha, he conducted a yatra in Arunachal Pradesh and other northeastern states. Sikkim is a state where the party did not have much, but he made us visible and the BJP started winning elections there,” said a leader, adding that the central leadership took note of him after the Chhattisgarh win in 2023, when he was the state in-charge.

At present, Nabin is the Minister for Road Construction as well as Urban Development and Housing in the Nitish Kumar government and has earlier held the Law and Justice portfolio.

Congratulating him, Nitish Kumar said it was a matter of happiness that “a resident of Bihar has been appointed as the national working president of the BJP”. Calling his Cabinet colleague a “dedicated and disciplined politician”, the CM wished that his “new responsibility will further strengthen the BJP”.

Deputy CM and Bihar Home Minister Samrat Choudhary also congratulated Nabin. “Your organisational experience and work efficiency will infuse new energy into the party and strengthen the workers,” he posted on X.

With inputs from Santosh Singh & Jatin Anand